A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic.
Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth.
Historically few research stations have been permanent.
Most of them were temporary, being abandoned after the completion of the project or owing to lack of funding to continue the research.
Some of these were military or listening posts created as a result of the proximity of the U.S. and Soviet Union to each other's landmass across the polar region.